This invention is directed to air cleaners, in particular to an apparatus and method of operating an air cleaner having a generally pyramid structure where air enter the apparatus from the peak, travels through carbon prefilter, past UV lamp(s) through a HEPA filter and past a motorized impeller which passes the cleaned air out lower sides of the apparatus.
Various air cleaner devices have been proposed over the years with limited success as to solving all the problems air cleaning indoor air. For example, many of these air filters will pull air in from lower sides of a unit having a rectangular shape and distribute the air from an upper portion of the unit. This typical unit shape and air flow arrangement can have several drawbacks. For example, the inlet portals on these rectangular units are generally identical in size to the outlet portals or are sometimes smaller. Thus, air distribution can be limited by the sizes of the inlet and outlet portals. Furthermore, by constantly pulling in air from the bottom can result in not getting all the circulating contaminants in the space to be cleaned. For example, contaminants found in warm air can be rising upward and would not necessarily be pulled in by the bottom located inlet portions of typical air cleaner units. Additionally, having only an air outlet on top of the air cleaner does not adequately distribute air being cleaned about a room space since the exhausted air is not being circulated about the space, and because these outlets typically blow air in only one direction (i.e. to only one portion of the room). Furthermore, having distribution outlet ports that are perpendicular to one another can also result in creating dead spaces between the exhausted air where clean air is not being circulated. And having the air inlet and air outlet in close proximity to one another will result in short-circuiting of the air, whereby exhausted air is drawn directly back into the unit so that the device is simply recycling cleaned air.
Other problems are that many air cleaner devices use only use one type of filter which can give the consumer a false sense of security that the air is being properly cleaned. For example, a unit only having a carbon type filter may absorb odors and chemicals but not be able to remove all sizes of air circulating particulates and contaminants. Similarly, units only having a filter such as a HEPA filter can remove particulates but not be able to remove many odors and chemicals. And a unit containing only a UV lamp can possibly only remove microorganisms and potentially odors and chemicals, but it will not be able to remove dust and particulate.
Additionally, many air cleaners that use HEPA filters do not test the filters to adequately determine their effectiveness. Thus, users can have a false sense of security that just having a HEPA filter is enough to adequately remove high percentages of undesirable particulates.
Still further problems with air cleaners are that the filters are not properly sealed and/or positioned in the path of air being cleaned within the units. For example, many air cleaner devices have filters loosely fitted inside and/or having open spaces about edges of the filter(s) so that dirty air is pulled around the filter(s) and is subsequently continuously ejected without being cleaned.
Still furthermore, traditional air cleaner units require continuously replacing the filters because of bacterial and mold growth on the filter(s). The prior art units are generally built to require constant servicing of either continuously buying new filter(s) and/or separately servicing the units to clean the existing filter(s). For example, as microorganisms collect on the HEPA filter over a long period of time, there is a risk of bacteria and mold growth on the HEPA filter as trapped bacteria/mold live, grow, and feed on the filter (especially in warm and humid environments). This is sometimes called bacteria xe2x80x9cgrow-throughxe2x80x9d whereby microorganisms live and breed on the HEPA media, eventually eating through the media. This ruins the integrity of the HEPA filter and possibly creates more contamination within the room as the microorganisms/mold are dispersed by the air cleaner. Time and labor and parts are constant continuous costs with these prior art air cleaning units.
Air cleaners that use UV(ultra violet) type lamps can also have additional problems with the UV lamps. A limitation of most UV air cleaner systems is that there is rarely enough UV dosage created to destroy bacteria or viruses. This is primarily because not enough residence time is achieved, in that the small number of lamps used in most units does not create enough radiation intensity to overcome the air flow in the unit. Current air cleaner units do not have the capability to kill all the bacteria and mold growth of both air flowing through these units and the bacterial and mold growth that builds up on components such as the filter(s) within the units.
Many United States patents have been proposed for cleaning indoor air but fail to adequately overcome all the problems described above. See for example, United States Patents: U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,301 to Constantinescu; U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,917 to Fuji; U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,965 to Neumann et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,313 to Pacosz; U.S. Pat. No. 5,453,049 to Tillman, Jr. et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,612,001 to Matschke; U.S. Pat. No. 5,616,172 to Tuckerman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,374 to Von Glehn; U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,040 to Caughron et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,435 to Satyapal et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,399 to Owesen; U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,619 to Knuth et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,322,614 to Tillmans.
The first objective of the present invention is to provide an air purification apparatus and system where dirty air is drawn through the upper sides of a generally pyramid shape where it is cleaned, and is exhausted from lower side portions of the shape at high speed in order to be effectively and efficiently circulated throughout a space. The invention can allow for safely and efficiently circulating up to approximately 300 cfm of airflow at various speeds.
The second objective of the present invention is to provide an air purification apparatus and system that can continuously clean incoming air and the air filter(s) within the apparatus. A preferred embodiment can use the same UV(ultra violet) lamp(s) to both clean incoming air and clean the filter(s) within the apparatus by continuously bathing the filter(s) with UV light.
The third objective of the present invention is to provide an air purification apparatus and system that can use hospital grade technology. The preferred embodiments can use both certified HEPA filters combined with UV(ultra violet) lamp(s) to clean the air. Filters in the invention can be further tested for their effectiveness before being used.
The fourth objective of this invention is to provide an air purification apparatus and system that can adequately seal removable filters within the apparatus so that incoming air does not bypass around the air filter(s) within the apparatus. The invention adequately prevents air being drawn into the apparatus from not being cleaned by scaling the filter(s) into the path of airflow inside the apparatus.
The fifth objective of the present invention is to provide an air purification apparatus and system that is versatile for maximum effectiveness without taking up valuable space by being able to be positioned on various floor locations by a removable stand.
The sixth objective of the present invention is to provide an air purification apparatus and system that is versatile for maximum effectiveness without taking up valuable space by being able to be supported on various table surfaces such as a desk or end table.
The seventh objective of the present invention is to provide an air purification apparatus and system that is versatile for maximum effectiveness without taking up valuable space by being able to be removably mounted to various wall height locations.
The eighth objective of the present invention is to provide an air purification apparatus and system that allows all replacement parts to be easily accessed and replaced. A back panel can be unclipped, and parts such as filters and lamps can be slid and/or popped out. Other than a basic tool such as a screw driver, no other tools are generally needed for regular maintenance of the apparatus.
The ninth objective of the present invention is to provide an air purification apparatus and system having a safety feature that shuts off power to internal components when the apparatus is being serviced. A safety interlock can be used that shuts off power when a back service panel is opened so that internal components such as electrical circuitry, blower, UV lamp(s), etc. can be safely handled.
Preferred embodiments of the novel apparatus, system and method for cleaning air includes a self contained air purification cabinet having sloped angled exterior walls, an air inlet port adjacent to a top portion of the cabinet for receiving incoming air, and various filtering stages within the cabinet for cleaning the incoming air. A blower type fan can pull the air into and exhaust cleaned air out of the cabinet. The preferred embodiments of the cabinet can have the shape of an upright pyramid with the air inlet port on at least one upper face portion of the pyramid shape, and the exhaust port on at least one lower face of the pyramid shape. The air inlet port can be located on two faces of the pyramid, and the upper pyramid portion can have at least one face with a different slanted angle than at least one other face. The exhaust ports can be located on three faces of the pyramid. The pyramid shape can include three exterior faces, four exterior faces, five exterior faces. The novel invention can circulate up to approximately 300 cfm of cleaned air.
The inside of the novel cabinet can include three different filtering stages. One stage can include a pre-filter for removing odors, chemicals and large particulates, such as a carbon filter. Another stage can include a light source such as a UV(ultraviolet) lamp(s), that can be the second stage. The third stage can include a main type filter for removing small particulates. A HEPA filter tested to achieve up to approximately 99.97% efficiency at approximately 0.3 microns, can be used as the main filter.
The filtering stages can be oriented such that the light source simultaneously cleans both the incoming air and the surface of the main filter that collects particulates and contaminants where microorganisms and mold become collected.
The filter(s) within the novel cabinet can be easily removed by being slid in and out of the cabinet Additionally, seals such as gasket materials can be used along the edges of the filter(s) so that incoming air does not bypass the filter(s) inside the cabinet.
A removable back panel can be attached to the cabinet so that components within the apparatus can be serviced without using extra tools to open and access the components in the apparatus. A safety switch can be used to automatically turn off power to the cabinet when the back panel is opened.
A removable floor based stand can be used for positioning the cabinet above various floor locales. Without the stand the novel invention includes rubberized feet for supporting the cabinet on surfaces such as tables, and the like, and the rubber feet also act as a cushion to prevent noise and vibration. A wall mount can also be used for attaching the novel air cleaning cabinet to various wall height positions.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment which is illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings.